1/29/06---Yet another movie list!

From the 12/05 issue of HOTDOG magazine...the top 100 movies since the magazine has been in existence (which would be around late '99)

100) Napoleon Dynamite
99) Finding Nemo
98) Narc
97) The Man Who Wasn't There
96) Finding Neverland
95) A Mighty Wind
94) Farenheit 9/11
93) The Pianist
92) The Bourne Supremacy
91) Chuck & Buck (I've never heard of this one)
90) Before Night Falls
89) Spellbound
88) The Devil's Backbone
87) Jackass: The Movie
86) About Schmidt
85) The Way of the Gun
84) Cabin Fever
83) House of Flying Daggers
82) Mystic River
81) Master and Commander
80) Erin Brockovich
79) Bubba Ho-Tep (an absolute classic!!!!)
78) Super Size Me
77) Dodgeball
76) Unbreakable
75) Dog Soldiers
74) Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
73) Sexy Beast
72) Bowling for Columbine
71) Secretary
70) American Movie
69) Dogtown & Z-Boys (terrific documentary)
68) The Incredibles
67) Broken Flowers
66) Far from Heaven
65) Moulin Rouge
64) Dancer in the Dark
63) The Virgin Suicides
62) 24 Hour Party People
61) Downfall
60) Best in Show (hilarious!)
59) Chopper
58) Gosford Park
57) Russian Ark
56) Wonder Boys
55) Shrek
54) Batman Begins
53) The Rules of Attraction
52) A History of Violence
51) Shaun of the Dead
50) Morvern Callar (I have no idea)
49) Big Fish
48) The Motorcycle Diaries
47) American Splendor
46) Kung Fu Hustle (*****)
45) Audition
44) Spirited Away
43) X-Men 2
42) Ocean's Eleven
41) Before Sunset
40) In the Mood for Love
39) Kill Bill Vol 2
38) Traffic
37) Pirates of the Caribbean
36) Bad Santa (brilliant in its own twisted way)
35) O Brother, Where Art Thou?
34) Talk to Her
33) Garden State
32) Amores Perros
31) Lord of the Rings-Return of the King
30) The Insider
29) Gladiator
28) Dead Man's Shoes
27) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
26) Toy Story 2
25) Adaption
24) Y Tu Mama Tambien
23) Battle Royale (Japanese)
22) American Beauty (*****-awesome!)
21) Amelie
20) Almost Famous
19) Hero
18) Spider Man 2
17) Memento
16) Three Kings
15) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
14) Ghost World
13) Kill Bill Vol 1
12) Lord of the Rings--The Two Towers
11) The Royal Tennebaums
10) Mulholland Drive
9) Oldboy
8) 21 Grams
7) Lost in Translation
6) City of God
5) Donnie Darko
4) Magnolia
3) Being John Malkovich
2) Lord of the Rings--Fellowship of the Ring
1) Requiem for a Dream

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Jeff

1/22/06--Playoff picks and a controversial list

Just for the record....I'm going with the Carolina Panthers and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
I'm not a fan of any of the teams left in the playoffs, so as my judge would say..."I don't have a dog in this fight".

Now then....I picked up a special issue of Total Film magazine   Total Film - Home and enjoyed their thoughts on the 100 Greatest Films of Alltime.  Here's the list, and some of my thoughts on their picks.  Let me know what you think.


  A recent magazine put out by Total Film magazine.   Sort of controversial in my opinion, and I think it will spark a little conversation.  The list includes some movies that I've never even heard of, and I have to say that I'm a huge movie buff, so the fact that I've never heard of it says something--the ones I've never heard of are more along the lines of the classic French stuff from the 50's.   And away we go:   100) Goldfinger
 99) Three Kings
 98) Casablanca
 97) Trainspotting
 96) Stand by Me
 95) The Usual Suspects
 94) Magnolia
 93) Salvador
 92) Back to the Future
 91) Dekalog (1989 film from Poland)
 90) Psycho   Thoughts from the first ten:  I like that Goldfinger was included....I think Casablanca & The Usual Suspects are both rated too low IMO...Stand by Me=great coming-of-age film.   Next 10:
 89) Rio Bravo
 88) Get Carter (original with Michael Caine)
 87) Donnie Darko
 86) Kind Hearts and Coronets
 85) The King of Comedy
 84) Metropolis
 83) The Wizard of Oz
 82) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
 81) The Shining
 80) Day for Night   Thoughts--I like that The Shining is on the list.
Not your ordinary "horror" film.   Next:
 79) The Wicker Man
 78) The Graduate
 77) Lawrence of Arabia
 76) Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind
 75) The Wild Bunch
 74) Raiders of the Lost Ark
 73) Hoop Dreams
 72) The Terminator
 71) North by Northwest
 70) Dawn of the Dead   Notes:  Some great films here, although IMO The Graduate & Close Encounters seem a little dated.
Personally, I always thought T2 was better than the original.  The first one now seems so very "80's".   Next:
 69) Sideways
 68) This is Spinal Tap
 67) L'Atlante (1934 French film)
 66) Seven
 65) 8 1/2
 64) The Conversation
 63) The Matrix
 62) The Night of the Hunter
 61) Halloween
 60) The Outlaw Josey Wales   Notes:  Outlaw Josey Wales is in my own personal top 10...Spinal Tap is one of the greatest parody films ever.  I've heard that most rock bands on tour insist of having the film brought along so it can be played on the tour bus.   Next:
 59) Blue Velvet
 58) Die Hard
 57) Sweet Smell of Success
 56) The Shawshank Redemption
 55) Kiss Me Deadly
 54) Miller's Crossing
 53) The Deer Hunter
 52) Sullivan's Travels
 51) Aliens
 50) It Happened One Night   Notes:  Two of my personal top 10 in this grouping with Shawshank & Deerhunter.  If you're ever looking for one of the great twisted movies of alltime, look no further than Blue Velvet.   Next:
 
 49) Pulp Fiction
 48) Singin in the Rain
 47) Blade Runner
 46) Nashville
 45) Mean Streets
 44) Annie Hall
 43) Heat
 42) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
 41) The Last Picture Show
 40) ET   Notes:  this grouping includes my own choice for my favorite movie of alltime:  Blade Runner.
Pulp Fiction and Heat are both tremendous.
Didn't really enjoy Mean Streets that much, and always felt Annie Hall was overrated.   Next:    39) Monty Python & the Holy Grail
 38) Badlands
 37) Touch of Evil
 36) 2001:  Space Odyssey
 35) A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
 34) The Searchers
 33) Star Wars
 32) Les Enfants Du Paradis
 31) Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
 30) Reservoir Dogs   Notes:  Badlands has always had a reputation of being a film that critics loved.  The Searchers was, IMO, John Wayne's best film.   Next:    29) La Regle Du Jeu
 28) Raging Bull
 27) Some Like it Hot
 26) The Third Man
 25) Sunset Boulevard
 24) Rear Window
 23) The Godfather
 22) Sunrise
 21) Crash
 20) Apocalyspe Now   Notes:  this grouping will surely lead to some controversy.  The Godfather at #23??  Its in my personal top 10 and I think this is way too low.
Iloved Apocalyspe Now, but its no Godfather.   Next:    19) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
 18) All About Eve
 17) Once Upon a Time in the West
 16) The Apartment
 15) Its a Wonderful Life
 14) Taxi Driver
 13) Manhattan
 12) Chinatown
 11) Persona (1966 Sweden)
 10) His Girl Friday   Notes: my main problem with this group is that if you take the list as a whole, then it would mean that they believe that #17 is the best western ever made.  Puh-leeze.  Hello...."Unforgiven"?
I'm happy that Manhattan is rated higher than Annie Hall, but the Woodman's best work was his early stuff (Take the Money & Run, Bananas, Sleeper).  And I just don't buy Texas Chainsaw as the greatest horror film of alltime.  It was really good stuff, don't get me wrong....but I don't see it ranked above the freakin Godfather.   Next:    9) The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
 8) The Empire Strikes Back
 7) Tokyo Story
 6) Citizen Kane
 5) The Godfather Part 2
 4) Fight Club
 3) Jaws
 2) Vertigo   and the number one film of alltime....according to Total Film magazine?  
 1) Goodfellas   Notes:  I don't understand how the magazine can list the Lord of the Rings trilogy all together but seperate the Godfather movies and the Star Wars films.  This grouping had two of my top 10 with the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Jaws.
Thought Goodfellas was a great film...but #1??
Hmm.....   Later,
Jeff
 

Parenting...the right way....and the wrong way

So last night I got to sit and videotape Kellie as she performed with the All-County Band in concert locally here in Ft Lauderdale.  As I watched the videotape and I zeroed in on her, sitting in the 2nd chair playing her flute....I found myself thinking back to how much she's grown up and changed in the almost 7 years since I first met her mother.
I was really proud of her, and I made a point of telling her what a great job she had done.  I even through her the ultimate compliment---by letting her have one hour of computer time this weekend as a reward for her achievement.  That's something I didn't think I'd be saying to Kellie for quite awhile.

On the other hand, tonight at dinner, Kellie asked me if we had any interesting cases in court this week.  I remembered a case from yesterday, that had two people, a man and a woman, who were charged with misdemeanor child neglect.  What did they do?
Well, it seemed that the couple had two daughters.  One was aged 14 and the other was aged 12.  The older girl somehow became involved with a young man of around 23 years old (don't ask) and after a short period of time found herself pregnant.  Meanwhile, the younger sister....that's right....the 12 YEAR OLD, begins to see a man who is 26 years old (I'm going to imagine they must have tons in common).  Surprise, surprise...soon afterwards she is pregnant also.  Two daughters...14 & 12....both pregnant.  So, what do the concerned parents do about this situation??
A) Call the police and have the two men arrested for statutory rape.
B) Take the two girls to a rape crisis or treatment center
C) Figure out where you are going to hide the bodies of the two young men--after you kill them.

Well, the truth is that the parents decided to go off the board and select "D".....

D) Invite the two young men to live with them and their two daughters as one big happy, dysfunctional pathetic family unit.

Uh...these folks selected "D".  The county prosecutors are currently looking into upgrading the charge from a misdemeanor to a felony.
(Sigh)

Later,
Jeff

1/18/06--That long, quiet ride

So I had to take Kellie to her band recital for the all-state band competition.  I found myself wondering just how uncomfortable the ride might be.  So, soon after we got into the car, I set the pace.

"So, how'd school go today."
"Okay."
"Tell your friends about the little incident last night?"
"Yes."
"And what did they have to say about it?"
"They just said....'oh'."
"Aha....yeah, that's about what I expected from them."

I had a long talk with her.  I told her that what really troubled me about the whole scenario was that I knew that someone had talked her into doing the whole thing.  She is someone who lives in fear of not being accepted by her peers.  She's afraid of being labeled as "not cool" or a "geek".  So I'm sure that someone at school told her that if she wanted to be cool, she should create a little webpage for herself.  And she did.
And then I told her that I worried what would happen if in a couple of years she went on a date and a boy put her in a similar situation--telling her that if she didn't do something that maybe she wasn't comfortable doing that he would tell everyone in school that she wasn't "cool" and so then she wold cave in to the pressure and end up making a big mistake at far too early an age.  I'm sure she had to be cringing as her Dad had this conversation with her.  And then I told her how unhappy I was that someone she knew--a boy she regarded as a "friend"--had called her a whore.  That it was a vile, nasty word that I never wanted to hear in regard to my daughter, my wife, my mother, my sister or any of my nieces--and that she should advise the young man who had said that to her that under no circumstances should he EVER call her that again.  She seemed okay with the conversation and listened to what I had to say.  A couple of days later I relayed the conversation to my sister and my parents.
My sister and mother told me that I had done the right thing and that they were proud of the way that I had handled it.
My father just looked at me and nodded his approval of the way I handled it.

In that special mysterious ways that only fathers and sons can understand....that meant more to me than any words he could have said.  It was that nod that seem to say---"your learning".  It was a nod that seem to say that now he realizes that maybe, just maybe.....I was listening to all those talks he had with me....that maybe a little of it sunk in.
Well....maybe a little.

Later,
Jeff

1/16/06---Adventures in parenting 101---room 3, down the hall

So the other night, I need to print something out from the computer.  I didn't feel like dealing with the possibility of getting the IM's and all that, so I decided to do something that I almost NEVER do anymore--I went online via internet explorer.  I can't even think of the last time I did that.  So I get online, and go to type the name of the website I was looking for in the spacebar and I accidentally do a typo.  I hit the down arrow to see where my mistake was made and.....lo and behold did I find something of interest.
I saw all these visits to a website called "Myspace.com".  Now, what's particularly interesting about that is that a few months ago I told my daughter--my lovely 13 year old daughter--that I had read some things about that website that made me inclined to believe that perhaps it wasn't the place for a 13 year old.  And so I hit one of the sites that had been visited and pulled up a webpage for an "18 year old" boy.  That was followed by another one for an "18 year old" girl....who looked very familar.  I then went down and examined some of the other links and got to one that was for someone called "Blondie 819".  Now that immediately struck me as interesting because my daughter's birthday is August 19th.  And so I pulled up the webpage.........

My first thought was what my method of killing her was going to be.  She had gone onto this website without permission, as a matter of fact--after being told DIRECTLY NOT to go on the website...and not only that, she went and posted her own site on there.
I perused her webpage some more and discovered, much to my own surprise, that my daughter was in fact NOT 13 years old, but 16!  Well, she must be...it says so right there on her webpage!  I read some of the rather clever messages that her friends had sent to her, complete with some rather....hmmm...."selective" language.  Now, truth be told, I'm probably the LAST person on earth to ever criticize someone for salty language, but I wish she would at least wait until she gets into high school before she starts swearing like a sailor.
I went onto one more webpage and saw another face I recognized, as it was one of the boys from her tae kwon do class.  As I scrolled down his page, I couldn't help but notice that he had gotten a message from my daughter.  She wrote to him regarding an incident that had happened recently in class and referred to it.

"I still remember that day in class when you called me a whore."

That's pretty tough words to hear in connection with your 13 year old daughter.
Kim came through the door with the kids and as they went into the bedrooms to change and get ready for dinner I called Kim over to show her what I had found.  I mentioned the "myspace.com" site again, and she remarked that the topic had just come up the day before when they were visiting the kids cousin.  She had asked Kellie about it and said that Kellie had "been evasive" in her answer.  I began to bait my hook.

We sat down for dinner and I asked the kids how their day was.  We made some small talk and I asked Andy if he remembered a story that I had told him from almost a year ago--about a girl right here in the town we lived in, who had posted a profile on her computer, lying about her age and who met a man who had responded and ended up getting raped in the parking lot of a Barnes & Noble.  He didn't remember it and I'm sure had no idea why in the world I was even bringing it up.

I asked Andy if he remembered what the worst thing you could do in our family.
"Lie," he answered.
That's right I said.  Then I looked at Kellie and asked her the same question.
"Lie," she said.
That's also right Kellie....
"Or should I just call you.....'Blondie 819'?"

It was one of those rare moments in parenting.  You have your child not only in a lie--but in a BIG LIE.  The look on her face, if the situation hadn't been so relatively serious, would have been almost humorous.  But it wasn't.  She was trapped and there was no exit strategy--not for the President in Iraq, not for Kellie at the dinner table.

Some rare political humor from your favorite writer.  Thank you, thank you very much.

I asked her what in the world she had been thinking.  Did she know the type of people who visited those webpages, looking for children to prey upon?  Did ever once think that maybe there was a reason I didn't want her on there?  I began speaking and found myself becoming more and more angry.  I didn't want to begin screaming and yelling and losing my temper....so I got up and walked away from the table.

I told Kellie that she had lost her computer priviledges for the next 6 months....and no allowance...and no television (OUCH!).  All things considered, I thought I was pretty easy on her.

She went to bed early that night, saying there was "nothing to do".  Its amazing the impact that television has had on this generation.  I thought my generation was addicted.
We're not even close compared to today's children.  Its literally like a drug.

She came out and said good night to me, which sort of surprised me.  When Kim came and sat down next to me I asked her if she had coaxed Kellie to say good night or if she had done it on her own.  She told me that Kellie said that I wasn't talking to her, so Kim had to "coax her a little bit".  Kim then reminded me that the following evening I had to drive Kellie to her band practice.

That was going to be one long, quiet ride, I thought to myself.

Part 2 later.

Later,
Jeff

1/8/06--a special anniversary....and Midnight's "extra" help?

Today is the one year anniversary of the death of Misty, the dog that I had with my ex-wife Kelly.  I thought a lot about my Misty, and this evening I spoke to Kelly, who for the first time since Misty's death spoke to me about what happened that day.  It was a sad day for her, and was very sad for me when I heard about it later on.  I felt better finally being able to hear about what happened at the end of her life---strange as that might sound.  She was one special dog.
Misty  1990-2005  RIP


Now, onto news of a happier nature, I realized that I have not in fact reported on news of my "dubba bubba", my Mr. Man, my Mr. Shifty......Midnight the Wonder Dog.
Kim went in for a followup visit with the surgeon this past Thursday, and the doctor happily reported that Midnight continues to make a swift recovery from his surgery.
Even better, the pathologist reports that the tissue surrounding Midnight's tumor was cancer free!!!  I was very relieved.  The doctor did suggest however, that we visit with an oncologist so that it could be determined if Midnight needs any sort of chemo (yes, as I said before....they do have doggie chemo).  Even though the tissue was cancer free, the doctor was somewhat concerned about the size of the tumor and the fact that the cancer inside the tumor was said to have been an "aggressive" nature.  He said that it would be better to visit the oncologist than to do nothing, and have another tumor appear within a few months.  I visit the oncologist on Friday of this week.  Hopefully all will go well.

You know, over the years, one of the things that my family--and in particular, my mother's family, believe in is that sometimes....things happen that you just can't explain.
My grandmother Corene was a woman who believed that strange things that happened usually had some sort of divine meeting.  A picture frame falling off the wall meant someone was about to die.  If your ear was burning, it meant someone was talking about you.  If your nose was itching, you were about to kiss a fool.....things like that, and many others.  Which made what happened to me the other night even more interesting.  Here's what happened:

This past Monday, Kim realized that it had been 10 days since Midnight's surgery, and we still had not heard from the pathologist regard the results that were done on Midnight's tumor and the tissue surrounding it.  She said that she was going to call the surgeon that day and leave a message to remind him, and hoped that perhaps he would call and asked them to have some sort of answer before Midnight's scheduled appointment on Thursday.  So that night, when I went to sleep....I had a very interesting dream.  In my dream, Kim came to me and told me that the doctor had called, and said that the test results showed that Midnight was cancer free.  I was so happy that I cried in the dream.  I then told Kim that I had told so many people about Midnight and what was happening with him that there were a number of people that I had to call with the news.  As a matter of fact, I had programmed the phone numbers of all the people that I had to call in my cellphone!  I had to share the news immediately and hit a programmed phone number without even knowing who I was calling.  A voice said hello.
"Hi its Jeff," I said, "who's this?"
"Its Dolly."
"Hey Dolly," I said to my friend from work, "I wanted to call you with the news about Midnight.  The doctor said that he is cancer free!  Isn't that great?"
"Yes it is honey, I'm very happy for you."

I hung up the phone and began making more phone calls to others that were concerned about Midnight---but the first person I spoke to was my friend Dolly from work.

The only thing is....my friend Dolly from work died about 2 years ago.

So maybe, just maybe....Midnight had someone upstairs looking out for him.
I'll take whatever help I can get.

Later,
Jeff

1/5/06---A title game for the ages

Last nights USC-Texas game was truly an amazing game.  So many great athletes running all over the field at warp speed.
Leinhart, Bush & Lendale White--tremendous games.
Vince Young--50 years they'll be talking about his performance.  Un-freakin-believeable.  He's like some sort of mutant, and Lord knows I hope he declares for the NFL draft.  Now....all that being said....after the game was over, and even Pete Carroll is gracious in defeat, showing rare class for him....they stick a microphone in front of Matt "I Got an 'A' in Dancing 101" Leinhart says:

Greatest of All Time!*

 


"I still think we're a better team."

–Matt Leinart, loser.

1/3/06---Alright, alright....here are my thoughts

Well...it wasn't pretty.  I will remind you what Jimmy Johnson once said:

Speed kills.

And Ohio State's speed just killed us.  Here's what I wrote to a friend of mine last night, who asked me for my thoughts on the game:

Well, I was pretty good.  I didn't start to scream obscenities at the television until midway through the 4th quarter. 
Here's what I noticed:
1) Our defensive backfield, with the exception of Tom Zbikowski, was HORRIBLE.  I don't mean Notre Dame horrible....I mean Division 1AA horrible.  If I see that freaking Chinedum Ndukwe bite on a play action fake one more time while playing safety--I will scream.
Wooden & Richardson both played the game like they were scared to death of Ginn & Holmes....maybe they should've been.
2) 3rd and long.  Every single long distance touchdown that the Buckeyes scored.  EVERY one....came after the Buckeyes had converted a 3rd and long.  That's either great play by the Buckeye offense or horrible play by the Irish defense.
3) Tressel is a pretty damn good coach.  I don't know if Charlie is going to be slightly humbled by this game, but the Ohio State defense had the Irish offense bumfuzzled on more than one play.  AJ Hawk is a freakin stallion.   I would be pretty damn happy if my Vikings somehow managed to draft him.
4) I think the whole thing with Hawk & Brady's sister may have rattled Brady more than he let on.  He looked out of sorts the whole game, besides the very good Buckeyes defense.
My wife wanted to know if it was like the Brady Bunch episode where Marcia dated the QB from the other team and then found out it was only because he wanted to steal Greg's playbook.  Hmm....Brady Bunch......Brady Quinn.......could be!

I'll write you more later....I should've known the team was doomed when I realized I was still reading Gerry Faust's autobiography....very bad kharma.
Amazon.com: Gerry Faust: The Golden Dream: Books
Later,
Jeff

1/2/06---UGH

34-20

1/2/06--Gameday...Fiesta Bowl

Well, after a few weeks of yapping.....and of countless mentions in the media that Brady Quinn's sister is dating Ohio State LB AJ Hawk (she couldn't find someone better looking to date?)....and the strategic matchup possiblities of watching Charlie Weis and Jim Tressell matching wits.....folks, its time to just play ball.


My thoughts?
Notre Dame-31
Ohio State-27

Later,
Jeff